The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #5

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #5

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Ram V

Illustrated by Filipe Andrade

Colour Assists by Inês Amaro

Lettered by Andworld Design

What will Laila Starr do when she's finally given the chance to resume the mantle of Death? Finding herself back in the world, Laila searches out Darius and discovers that for the first time she will be witnessing the death of someone close to her. When they are both given a chance at immortality, their individual decisions lead to a surprising and touching series finale.

To everything, turn, turn, turn, There is a season, turn, turn, turn, And a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die, A time to plant, a time to reap, A time to kill, a time to heal, A time to laugh, a time to weep. This is what I started to sing after I read this issue, right after I had so many questions blurt out from between my lips. I’m sure my cats looked at me like I was crazy but that’s okay. After all, the best stories evoke the most unexpected or reactions that just cannot be held in and boy did Ram deliver one hell of a great story here.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to shine a spotlight on their personalities and who they are. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story you become absorbed by how tender it becomes.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen right up to the end is magnificently rendered. How we see the layers within the story open up new avenues, explore existing ones and how everything we see adds this depth, dimension and complexity to the story is beautifully done. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceedingly well achieved.

The interiors here are just extremely endearing. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create the detail work we see throughout the book is so charming, so warm and welcoming and so perfectly suited to the story, it’s like a big comfy on a crisp fall morning. I really wish we’d have seen more backgrounds being utilised because when we see them they enhance and expand the moments so exquisitely. They work well within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. How we see the page layouts with the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. How the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sublime eye for how colour works.

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This is far from perfect but ya know what nothing is perfect. What matters at the end of the day is how something makes you feel, the impact it has upon you and this issue checks those boxes and so much more. I’ve praised the opportunity Ram has to introduce more cultural beliefs that aren’t as well known and honestly I think he’s done a spectacular job with that. With some solid and inspired writing and delightful characterisation surrounded by these completely charming interiors shows there’s room for more diversity such as this in comics.